PHILADELPHIA — Strolling into the Mets clubhouse Friday afternoon, you’d by no means know the crew was within the midst of the worst shedding streak of the season. A brand new metropolis and a brand new day brings one other change to snap that six-game winless streak.
The unofficial motto of the crew appears to be that it solely takes one. One win to show issues round, one large hit to alter a recreation and one large arm on the mound. It’s straightforward to overlook about dangerous losses when you could have one other recreation to play 24 hours later.
However since shedding arguably their greatest arm in Kodai Senga every week in the past, the Mets aren’t hiding the truth that the environment has modified. No matter they achieved with out the right-handed ace final yr is up to now. This yr, they misplaced Senga at a time after they have been rolling, and some days later, misplaced Tylor Megill as nicely.
The pitching workers has all however fallen aside since then, giving up 41 runs over six video games.
“There is no question that you lose a part of your identity as a team when you don’t have Kodai going out there as your guy every 5-6 days,” mentioned outfielder and crew chief Brandon Nimmo. “But I can’t say that we’re the only team that’s experienced that. The Dodgers have probably experienced it way worse than us.”
The Mets have been extremely fortunate relating to the well being of their beginning pitchers in comparison with the Dodgers, who might virtually discipline an All-Star crew of injured arms. Whereas the Mets misplaced their ace and a back-end starter, the Dodgers have misplaced all of that and extra.
“You still have to go out and find ways to win,” Nimmo mentioned. “But it does hurt. There is no question about that.”
It’s as if the accidents to Senga and Megill took the wind out of the Mets’ sails.
Coming into the weekend sequence in opposition to the Philadelphia Phillies, the 2 groups are tied for first place, however earlier than the shedding streak started final Friday night time, the Mets have been 4 video games up on their NL East rivals. They have been cruising. A number of gamers famous that when one participant catches hearth, all of them appear to observe, and it’s the identical when one or two guys begin to go chilly. The remainder of the crew goes chilly as nicely.
The lack of Senga froze the vibes.
“You’re definitely aware of it,” Clay Holmes mentioned after taking a loss in Atlanta on Thursday night time. “Especially with the pitchers they are — they’re really good pitchers. There’s no denying that. It’s tough losing them, but at the same time, we’ve got to believe in the guys we have, and do all we can to be the best versions that we are. The guys that step up for them, we need to do all we can to be there for those guys…”
“There’s a lot of faith in what we can put out there.”
So, the Mets pitching workers will look to construct the momentum they misplaced this week. Rookie right-hander Blade Tidwell will attempt to give the Mets the shot within the arm they want Friday night time. Subsequent week, Frankie Montas will make his long-awaited Mets debut. The appropriate-hander will make his first large league begin Tuesday night time at Citi Subject after a prolonged rehab from a lat pressure he suffered throughout spring coaching. Left-hander Sean Manaea, his former A’s teammate and a key member of the 2024 rotation, isn’t far behind in his rehab from an indirect pressure.
The Mets aren’t making an attempt to sugarcoat the truth that Montas didn’t present nicely in his minor league rehab task, placing up a 13.19 ERA in seven begins between Excessive-A and Triple-A. They’ve the pitching coaches working with him on some mechanical points forward of his Tuesday begin, and the key league workers, together with supervisor Carlos Mendoza and pitching coaches Jeremy Hefner and Desi Druschel, will watch his bullpen Saturday when he throws at Residents Financial institution Park.
So, the web page is turned on a foul week and a foul stretch of video games. Senga’s harm isn’t main and two starters are set to return quickly. They’ll want extra than simply the pitching workers to place some separation between the opposite groups within the division, and it solely takes one win to begin a streak.
“Kodai is an amazing, amazing pitcher,” Nimmo mentioned. “But I’m looking forward to Sean Manaea getting back and same with Montas. Those are great guys, and great pitchers who have a great track record. So those are positive things to look forward to.”
